


All Hail the King

by CelesteFitzgerald



Series: YOI Ship Bingo [8]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bullying, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Transfer Student JJ
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-03
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-01-08 12:45:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12254652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelesteFitzgerald/pseuds/CelesteFitzgerald
Summary: Leo is two weeks into his senior year of high school where everything is going great, until the school gets a new transfer student from Canada. He’s loud, rude, and has a massive ego that he shows off everywhere he goes—and he’s proclaimed that Leo will be his best friend. Leo’s conscience tells him to give JJ a chance, but he’s just so annoying that he’s not sure he can handle it. Unfortunately, JJ’s boisterous personality quickly turns the school against him, and when he starts getting bullied, Leo is there for him as the friend that no one else will be.





	1. Chapter 1

_…What the actual heck?_

Leo had gotten to his first period class a few minutes early just like any other day and taken his seat in the back of the room. He had propped his feet up on the chair in front of him and scrolled through his phone. Just as class had started and his professor had asked him to put his phone away without even glancing his way, the door had been slammed open.

“Never fear, King JJ is here!”

Leo and the rest of the room turned to look toward this ‘King JJ’ and saw an all-too-smug looking kid with an undercut standing in the doorway like he owned the place. Murmurs and snickers spread throughout the room, but the smirk on JJ’s face didn’t falter.

The wide-eyed professor cleared his throat and picked up the attendance sheet. “Well, I’m assuming you must be our new transfer student, Jean-Jacques Leroy.”

“That’s me,” he said as he gestured to himself with his thumbs.

“Well, Mr. Leroy, why don’t you introduce yourself?” the professor sighed, dropping back onto his chair.

“With pleasure,” JJ said as he strutted to the front of the room. He casually leaned against the podium and ran his fingers through his hair. “Hello and good morning, my friends. My name is Jean-Jacques Leroy, but since we’re all friends, you can call me JJ.” He winked, and there were more snickers. “My family just moved to the U.S. from Canada. I’m two weeks late to the beginning of the year, but as you know, the cool people always show up to the party late.” He shot finger guns at the class, who couldn’t contain their laughter anymore.

Without thinking, Leo rolled his eyes and shot finger guns back. When he saw the way JJ’s face lit up when they made eye contact, Leo realized that he _probably_ should have made his sarcasm a bit more obvious.  

“ _Any_ way,” JJ continued, “I am honored to join your lovely school—but not as honored as you are to have me here, of course.” Finally finished, he gave a small bow as the class continued to laugh.

The professor lifted his face out of his hand and stood up. “Thank you, Jean-Jacques, for that…unique introduction. Now, if you would _please_ take a seat. There’s an open seat _far_ in the back next to Mr. de la Iglesia.”

“Oh, uh, sorry Professor, this seat is taken,” said Leo, thinking fast as he relocated his feet to the empty ‘footrest’ next to him.

“Very funny, Leo,” the professor scowled as he quickly ushered JJ to his seat while Leo begrudgingly moved his feet.

Class was finally able to begin, and the professor started writing algebra equations on the board. Leo began taking notes. He may give off the impression of an irresponsible student, but he actually did enjoy learning. His classes were just so easy to him that he had to spice up class a bit by messing with the professors occasionally. He focused for the first few minutes until he realized that he had already read this material in the book over the weekend, so he pulled out his phone.

“Psst.” Leo tried to ignore the not-so-subtle cry for attention to his right, but the new kid was persistent. “ _Psst._ ”

Leo clenched his fist and looked over at JJ, who handed him a note. “What are you, two years old?” Leo muttered to himself as he unfolded the note.

_“Hello there, Mr. Long-Last-Name-That-I-Don’t-Remember. It’s a pleasure to sit next to you. I couldn’t help but notice you were enjoying my sense of humor during my little speech.”_

“ _Little_ speech?” Leo muttered. He crumpled the note and left it at the corner of his desk as he returned to his phone. It had barely been a minute when another note landed next to the first. Glaring over at JJ, he opened the note.

_“Don’t be shy, now. I know I can be a bit intimidating, but I promise I won’t bite…too hard ;) At least tell me your name, man.”_

Leo grabbed his pencil and scribbled out his name as quickly and sloppily as he could, throwing the note at JJ’s face and laughing when he hit his target.

“I wasn’t aware that binomial expansions were so entertaining,” the professor said, turning around and looking directly at Leo. Leo shrugged his shoulders and feigned innocence.

Two minutes later a note hit Leo in the face and it was JJ’s turn to laugh. The professor didn’t notice it this time. Great. Leo unfolded the note.

_“Well, Leo, I see you’re a bit of a troublemaker. This may put a bit of a damper on our friendship. As you have surely noticed, I’m always on my best behavior. I don’t want to be associated with delinquents. But, since you have good taste, I may be able to make an exception.”_

Each sentence was more and more outrageous, and Leo had to put a hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter. Was this JJ guy really this full of himself?

It was a good thing Leo already knew the material for this period, because every five minutes JJ sent him another note. Somehow he had convinced himself that Leo was going to be his best friend and would show him around the school, and Leo was torn between praying for class to be over and praying that it would never end so that he’d never have to talk to JJ face-to-face.

It seemed he would have to face his fears sooner rather than later; the bell finally rang and Leo made a mad dash for the door. Unfortunately, JJ was faster than he was and caught up to him just outside the classroom.

“Leo!” He practically shouted, grabbing his shoulder. “Wow, you sure are eager to show me to my next class. I almost lost you there.”

“Oh my gosh, can you not take a hint?” Leo put his hands behind his head and tugged at his hair in exasperation. “I do _not_ want to show you around. I do _not_ want you passing notes to me every ten seconds. And I do _not_ want to be your friend!”

Leo thought he saw JJ’s ever-present smile falter for a second. “Surely you don’t mean that! I just got to this school. I need a sidekick to show me all the ins and outs.”

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Leo cried. “Okay, I don’t like you, but I’m gonna give you some advice: going around asking people to be your ‘sidekick’ is only gonna make you look like a massive a-hole.”

“Oh come on, the King needs a wingman! And besides, what’s wrong with a good asshole?” JJ had the nerve to wink at Leo.

Leo’s jaw fell open in shock and horror. “Okay,” he held up his hand, “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that. I need to go now. There’s a map over there—” he gestured down the hall “—if you need help finding your next class.” As awful as he was, Leo still couldn’t leave the new transfer student completely on his own. He sighed, and swallowed his pride. “I guess I’ll see you later today. We probably have a couple other classes together. If you can control yourself and leave me alone during class, maybe I’ll consider talking to you again.”

JJ’s face lit up. “Great! I knew you were a nice guy. I’m a great judge of character. See you later, Leo!” JJ hurried down the hall to look at the map.

Leo watched him go and shook his head. He didn’t know anyone could have so much of an ego, especially coming into an unfamiliar place like this. He was about to turn around and head to band when he finally noticed the other students in the hallway. They were huddled in groups, whispering and laughing to each other as their eyes followed JJ down the hallway. Leo even thought he saw one girl snapping a photo. He frowned but pushed it from his mind as he started walking.


	2. Chapter 2

Leo and his friends had just finished their lunches and were heading to their next classes, and he still hadn’t seen JJ again. Maybe they didn’t have any more classes together. JJ was probably in the other lunch period as well, since Leo hadn’t seen him in the cafeteria. He was sure he would have noticed JJ if he had been there.

He arrived at his Chemistry class four minutes early and took his spot at the back of the room. As he waited for class to start, he overheard a conversation from two rows over.

“…and he must have recognized me from English class this morning, because he saw me at lunch and tried to sit at our table. He just sauntered over, acting like he could do whatever he wanted. Kept going on about being ‘the King’ again.”

The other students snickered as Leo frowned. A second student picked up where the first left off.

“So, I told him that a King should sit in a throne, and suggested that he put his chair on top of the table and sit on it—” he paused his story to double over in laughter.

“You didn’t!” a girl shrieked.

“I did. And the freak actually started to do it!” They erupted in laughter again. “I got pictures, too. He already had the chair on top of the table before he realized we were messing with him.”

“How full of himself _is_ he?”

“And he tried to act all tough after, but his face was so red. Then he left to go join the table next to us, but they’d obviously seen the whole thing, so a couple of them stood up and bowed and said ‘all hail the King.’”

Leo couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Sure, JJ was rude, and annoying, and full of himself, but no one deserved to be treated like that—and on his first day at the school, too. He was about to speak up when he heard the chair next to him squeak. He looked over to see JJ sliding into the desk. Leo really hoped that he hadn’t heard any of the conversation, but JJ’s half-smile, half-grimace suggested otherwise.

“Hi, JJ,” Leo said loudly. The conversation next to him was reduced to whispers, but they were still talking.

“Leo, my man!” said JJ as he clapped Leo on the shoulder. JJ’s smile returned to its normal size like nothing was wrong, and Leo was no longer certain that JJ had actually heard what the other students had been saying.

“How have your other classes been? Bored out of your mind yet?”

JJ laughed. “They can’t be boring if I’m there!”

“I can’t argue with that,” Leo grumbled. They still had a minute before class started, so Leo figured that if he was going to have any chance at not completely hating JJ he might as well try to learn more about him. “So why’d your family move away from Canada? Couldn’t handle the cold?”

JJ stiffened. “It was just time for a change,” he said much quieter than normal.

“Oh.” Leo was off to a great start. “Um…well, I’m sure you’ll love it here in the States. We have so many fast food options on every corner that you’ll never get bored.”

JJ laughed a little. “God bless America.”

Leo snorted. “Land of the free desert if you order a large combo.”

They both kept laughing until the professor asked them to settle down. She welcomed JJ to the class, but he didn’t get up to give a speech this time. She launched into a lecture on electronegativity, and Leo ‘paid attention.’ He glanced over toward JJ from time to time to make sure he could block any incoming notes, but JJ actually seemed to be focusing on the lecture.

By the end of the period, Leo was so bored that he almost wished JJ had passed him a few notes— _almost_. The bell finally rang, and Leo was ready to head to his last class of the day.

“See? I can behave myself,” JJ smirked.

Leo sighed, but smiled. “I guess so.”

“So, have I earned another chance?”

“…Ugh, sure, why not?”

JJ laughed triumphantly. “King JJ is back in business!”

“Great…ready for eighth period, your majesty?”

JJ looked delighted. “Heck yeah. I’m in room 204.”

“I’m just around the corner from you. We can walk together, I guess…”

“Great, let’s go!” JJ grabbed Leo’s arm and dragged him out of the room and down the hallway.

“Wrong way, your highness,” Leo groaned.

JJ stopped abruptly and Leo crashed into him. “Oh. Right. Maybe you should lead.”

“Yeah, I think that would be best,” Leo laughed. As they turned to head down the hallway in the correct direction this time, Leo noticed that he wasn’t the only one in the hallway who was laughing. He cleared his throat and continued. “Where’d the whole ‘King’ thing come from, anyway?”

JJ turned to him excitedly. “’Leroy’ actually means ‘the King,’ so technically I literally _am_ a king!”

“But then wouldn’t the rest of your family be kings, too?”

“You’re no fun,” JJ grumbled and crossed his arms.

“Drama king,” Leo joked, lightly shoving JJ’s shoulder.

“If you were trying to insult me, you have failed.” JJ stuck his chin out proudly.

Leo shook his head and smiled. JJ’s crazy personality may be annoying, but he knew he’d never be bored if he was talking to JJ. Maybe, in some weird way, this friendship might actually be possible. “What class are you heading to?”

“French,” said JJ.

“You don’t know French? But you’re Canadian. You’re supposed to speak fluent French and lose all your teeth from a combination of hockey fights and too much maple syrup.”

“Oh yeah, definitely. That’s why my water bottle—” he pointed to his bag “—isn’t clear. I can’t let everyone see that I’m carrying syrup around with me.” Leo smiled. “My parents kind of know French, but they just spoke to us in English when we were growing up. So I’ve been trying to learn it at school, but everyone else has always been so far ahead of me and even though I ace all my other classes I just can’t figure French out and the other students always point out how bad I am at it so what-class-are-you-going-to-now?”

Leo almost missed JJ’s question with the way he had sped up so much at the end of his sentence. “Huh? Oh, I have History.” _Why did he change the subject?_

“Okay.” JJ was out of breath and his eyes were wide.

“Hey, are you okay?” Leo asked quietly—

“I’m fine.” JJ focused his eyes straight ahead and pursed his lips into a frown.

Leo knew he hadn’t been having the greatest first day, and something must have happened back in Canada, but JJ didn’t seem to want to talk about it. They walked in tense silence down the last hallway, and stopped outside JJ’s classroom. “Here’s your stop…And remember, Americans are generally pretty dumb, so you’ll be the star of the class without even having to try.” Leo watched JJ’s face in hope.

After a second, the corner of JJ’s lips turned upward into a lopsided smile. “Well, I certainly am a star.”

Relieved, Leo waved and started heading to his own classroom. But in a moment of spontaneity—or was it just poor decision-making?—he turned back around. “Hey, JJ?”

“Hm?”

“Let me give you my phone number, in case you have any questions about the school or the town, or,” Leo exhaled, “if you want to hang out sometime, I guess.” He hoped he wouldn’t regret trusting JJ.

JJ’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open slightly. “Oh. Really? Yeah…yeah!” He fumbled around for his phone so Leo could add his number. JJ kept bouncing on his feet while Leo typed. For someone who was always so confident, he sure seemed surprised by Leo’s suggestion.

Leo returned the phone to JJ, who excitedly stuck it back into his pocket. “Thanks, Leo!” JJ said.

“No problem.”

JJ almost turned back to his classroom, but he paused, looked straight at Leo, and quieted his voice to say one last, “Thank you,” before finally heading to class.

Leo wasn’t quite sure why he couldn’t stop smiling as he finished walking to History, but he wasn’t complaining.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phichit and Guang Hong make their appearances! I promise that I love both of them dearly, so please forgive me for some of their actions this chapter.

Leo tapped his pen vigorously on his desk as he glared at the door. He stifled a yawn to avoid ruining the intensity of the look. Whenever JJ showed up, Leo was going to give him a piece of his mind.

JJ finally arrived a couple minutes before first period started, looking just as cheerful as the previous day. The _nerve_. He plopped into his chair and smiled over at Leo.

“Good morning, sunshine! Did you get my texts from last night?”

“No. I did _not_ get any texts from you last night. I did, however, get seven texts from you at _two in the freaking morning_.”

“So? What did you think of the videos?” JJ raised his eyebrows in anticipation.

“I thought about how much I didn’t want to watch them since I was _trying_ to _sleep_.”

JJ’s face fell. “Oh, shoot. Sorry. I’m used to staying up really late, so I guess I forgot that most people other people don’t.”

Leo sighed. “Whatever. It’s fine. Just don’t make me regret giving you my number.”

“You won’t regret it! I promise! So did you get a chance to watch the videos?” Leo just narrowed his eyes slightly in response. “Okay, okay,” JJ sighed.

“Maybe I’ll watch them during lunch or something. But they better be worth it.”

“They will,” JJ winked.

Leo raised his eyebrows and smiled, then turned to the front of the room as their professor began class. Leo paid attention for the first three minutes or so before he began dozing off. He was jolted from his haze when he felt something hit the side of his head. He picked up the piece of paper and unfolded it.

_“Wake up, sleepyhead. You don’t have to pay attention, but I’m pretty sure you’ll be in trouble if your head’s on your desk and you’re snoring.”_

Leo looked over at JJ and gave him a slight nod in gratitude. But with what little sleep he had gotten the previous night, staying awake was going to be difficult. He decided he might as well watch some of the videos JJ had sent him. He pulled out his phone and headphones, unnoticed by the professor—one of the perks of sitting in the back row of every class. He tapped the first URL and settled in.

Once the [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ&app=desktop) started playing, it took all of his strength not to throw the phone across the room. He wrote a note back to JJ:

_“Are you freaking kidding me?? You rick-rolled me?”_

He crumpled up the scrap of paper and chucked it at JJ. JJ opened it, and immediately covered his mouth to muffle his laughter. A minute later, another note landed on Leo’s desk.

_“Don’t get mad at me! I didn’t tell you to watch it in the middle of class.”_

_“How was I supposed to know it was just a stupid, out-of-date, uncreative meme?”_

_“…You probably shouldn’t watch the rest of the videos then.”_

Leo couldn’t help but smile a little at JJ’s last note. Of course JJ would be into those stupid videos that were always popping up on Leo’s recommended videos feed. If he was being honest with himself, he was tempted to go ahead and watch the videos, but he decided to at least wait until lunch when he couldn’t get in trouble for it.

Leo managed to stay awake for the rest of the period with the help of one more wake-up call from JJ. Once class was over, they stood up to leave together.

“What’s your second period class?” Leo asked as they headed to the door.

“English,” JJ said.

“You’re probably heading in the opposite direction from me. I’m heading left.”

JJ pouted. “Yeah, I’m going right.”

“I guess I’ll see you in Chemistry?”

“Yeah!” JJ waved goodbye as he practically ran down the hallway to get to his next class. He sure had a lot of energy.

* * *

 

Leo grabbed his lunch bag from his locker then headed over to the cafeteria. He took a seat at his usual table and waited for his friends Phichit and Guang Hong to show up. He had nothing better to do, so he pulled out his phone to check out one of the other videos JJ had sent him.

Relieved that JJ hadn’t decided to rick-roll him twice in a row, he somewhat enjoyed the second video and even laughed a few times.

“Oh my god, did someone send you the video, too?” Phichit asked as he and Guang Hong sat down across from Leo.

“What video?”

“Apparently there’s some new kid in our year who’s really full of himself, so yesterday at lunch at lunch some guys pulled a trick on him.”

Guang Hong added, “I feel kinda bad for laughing, but it’s actually pretty funny.”

 _No._ Leo couldn’t believe this. His own friends were participating in this? “Are you talking about JJ?”

“I dunno his name,” Phichit said as he scrolled through his phone to pull up the video, “but I know he calls himself ‘the King.’” Phichit rolled his eyes as he said it, and he handed his phone to Leo.

Leo stared at the screen, appalled at what he was seeing. Just like the story he had overheard in class the previous day, the kids were tricking JJ into putting his “throne” on top of the table. The sounds of laughter dominated the video, along with several rude remarks. Leo watched as JJ’s huge, dorky smile fell into a panicked expression as he stood frozen in place. Leo couldn’t stand to see that look on his face. He clenched his fists.

“How can you do this?”

“Huh?” Phichit and Guang Hong looked up at him in confusion.

“You’re actually _supporting_ what those jerks did to him? And you’re sharing the video with people—oh no, Phichit, how many people have you sent it to?”

“Not too many, for once,” Phichit said defensively. “By the time it got to me, a lot of the school had already seen it.”

“Oh my gosh.” Leo clenched his hair in his fists. “You have to stop spreading that. You can’t do that to him. Why would you even think it’s okay? It’s bullying!”

Guang Hong looked down at the table. “Sorry.”

Phichit had a bit more to say. “You’re right. I won’t send it to anyone else. But I’ve heard that this guy—JJ?—is a real jerk. I’m not gonna go and be best friends with him.”

“But you’ve never even met him!” Leo yelled.

“Hey, calm down,” Phichit said. “Look, I know bullying is a very serious problem. I definitely won’t do anything like that to him or anyone else. That stuff isn’t okay. But if he’s really as bad as everyone says he is, I don’t really want to meet him.”

Leo was relieved that he was able to get through to Phichit, but he wasn’t entirely satisfied. “I know he seems annoying, but if you just give him a chance he’s actually a nice guy. A bit crazy, but still nice.”

“Are you friends with him?” Guang Hong asked.

Leo considered it. “Kinda? I’ve only known him for a day, but he’s already proclaimed me his wingman.”

Phichit snorted, then stopped himself. “Well, do you want to be friends with him?”

“…Yeah, I do.”

Phichit sighed, and nodded. “Okay.” He opened up his lunch, and the other two followed suit.

“So,” Guang Hong asked between bites, “is this JJ guy going to be joining our lunch table?”

“No, I think he had lunch last period. I’m sure he would have found me by now if he was in our period.”

“Or he could be sitting with friends from his other classes,” Guang Hong suggested.

Leo thought back to the past day and a half. During Algebra and Chemistry, JJ hadn’t made any attempts to talk to anyone besides Leo. And from what he had overheard, there was at least a good portion of JJ’s English class that didn’t want anything to do with him. Did he have friends in his other classes?

“Maybe,” was all Leo said.

“We’ll have to meet him sometime,” said Guang Hong.

“Ah yes,” Phichit said, “no one is allowed to be friends with our precious Leo without our approval.”

Leo laughed. “Maybe the four of us can hang out some weekend.”

Guang Hong nodded. Leo looked to Phichit.

Phichit sighed. “If you say he’s a good guy, then I trust you.”

“Good,” Leo smiled. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some videos to watch.”


	4. Chapter 4

Leo was surprised at how quickly he had adjusted to JJ’s presence. He found himself looking forward to Algebra and Chemistry each day so that he could pass notes with JJ. They texted each other every day after classes—JJ apparently had an endless supply of dumb Youtube videos—and when Leo discovered the [Important Videos playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7XlqX4npddfrdpMCxBnNZXg2GFll7t5y) on his own, JJ actually called him to tell him how proud he was.

Before long it was Friday, and as they left their Chemistry classroom to walk to their eighth-period classes, the thought occurred to Leo that he’d miss JJ over the weekend.

“Congratulations,” said Leo as they walked, “just one more class and you’ll have survived your first week of school in America.”

“Yeah!” JJ pumped his fist in the air. “One week down…a lot more to go.”

“Got any plans for the weekend?”

“Erm…I don’t know,” JJ said.

“Well, any plans other than studying for that Chemistry quiz, I mean,” Leo added.

JJ’s eyes widened and he stopped walking. The student behind him glared as she walked around him. “I may have forgotten about that,” JJ said.

Leo sighed and reached for JJ’s arm. “You’ve gotta quit stopping in the middle of the hallway, man.” Once he was able to get JJ moving again, he said, “The quiz won’t be that bad, it’s just a few multiple choice questions and some definitions.”

“Yeah, but I haven’t exactly been reading the textbook…”

“JJ! Then what have you been doing after school?”

“Texting you!”

Leo put his face in his hands. “You can do two things at once, you know.” JJ just pouted. “Well, if you want, you could come over to my place tomorrow and we could study together,” Leo offered.

JJ looked over at him in what seemed like genuine surprise. “Really? Yeah, let’s do it!”

“Great,” Leo smiled. “Does one o’clock work?” JJ nodded vigorously. “Cool, I’ll text you my address later—and we have to actually get some studying done. We’re not just watching videos the whole time.”

“But what if they’re _important_ videos—”

“No.”

* * *

 

Once he made it home after school, Leo opened the door to his house and set his bag down in the hallway. “Hi, mom!”

“Hi, honey,” his mom called from the living room. “How was your day?”

He plopped down on the couch next to her. “Not bad. Classes are still way too easy.”

She gave him a look. “You better not be bothering your teachers again.”

“Ugh, no, I’m not.”

“Good.”

“I have a Chemistry quiz on Monday. Is it okay if a friend comes over tomorrow to study?”

“Is it Phichit? I know you two will just spend the whole time on Instagram.”

“Heh, _yeah_ we would. But no, it’s a new friend, JJ. He just moved here from Canada.”

“Oh, of course he can come over!” Her face lit up. “That sounds wonderful. You can invite him to stay for dinner, too, if he wants. So, tell me about him.”

“…You really think I want to gossip about my friends with my mom?” Leo said.

“Leo, I’m not going to welcome a stranger into my house unless I know at least a little bit about him.”

“Well, he’s…um…loud. Very loud. And he has a big ego—hey, don’t look at me like that, he’s also really nice and funny, and he makes this adorable, dorky face whenever he gets excited, which is, like, all the time…”

An expression Leo didn’t recognize crossed his mom’s face before she smiled again. “As long as he’s nice and can behave himself, he’s fine in my book.” She stood up. “Wanna help me cook? It’ll take a couple hours, so we should start soon.”

“Yeah! Just give me one minute.” Leo shot JJ a quick text with his address and asked if he would stay for dinner (to which JJ enthusiastically agreed), then joined his mom in the kitchen.

* * *

 

When JJ rang the doorbell the next day, Leo went to open it as fast as he could. The smile he saw on JJ’s face was not mirrored on his own.

“Next time, try just ringing the doorbell _once_.”

JJ just laughed. “Can I come in?”

“Yes. Anything to get you away from that button.” He grabbed JJ’s arm and gently pulled him inside.

JJ took off his shoes and looked around. “You have a really nice house!”

“Thanks, but it’s not that special.”

“Are you kidding? Everything’s so clean—and how is it so quiet? Don’t you have any siblings?”

“Nope, it’s just me and my mom,” said Leo. “Do you have siblings?”

“Yep. Ten of ‘em.”

Leo’s jaw dropped. “Ten? Dang, how do you survive?”

“Earplugs are my friend. Seven of them are younger than me too, so it can get pretty crazy at home.”

“I bet.”

Just then, Leo’s mom came downstairs from her office. “Oh! Hello, you must be JJ.” She finished descending the stairs and extended her hand to him.

JJ gave her a huge smile and shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. de la Iglesia. Thank you so much for inviting me to dinner!”

“Oh, of course. We’re very happy to have you. Make yourself at home.”

“That’ll be very easy—your home is amazing! It’s fit for a king.”

“The king he’s talking about is himself, by the way,” Leo interjected.

“Really?” Leo’s mom chuckled. “I’m glad the house meets your standards. Now you boys better get some studying done.”

“We will, Mom. C’mon JJ, I have my stuff set up on the table in the basement.” Leo led the way downstairs.

When they got to the basement, Leo sat down in his usual jet-black bean bag chair and gestured for JJ to sit in the chair across from him. But JJ was busy checking out everything in the room.  

“You have a snare drum?” JJ asked as he walked over to the instrument.

“Yeah! I play percussion in band. Did I not tell you that yet?”

“Nope. That’s cool.”

“Yeah. Music is more important to me than anything. Playing and listening to music always helps me relax when I’m stressed out. Learning to play percussion kept me from feeling hopeless and getting trapped in my own head after my dad left when I was a kid. And music inspires me, too. Playing music is always a really spiritual experience for me. I’m gonna go to college for a Music Performance degree, if I get accepted anywhere.”

As he spoke, JJ watched him with interest and curiosity. “That’s incredible. I can’t believe I didn’t know any of this about you yet.”

“Well, you’ve only been here a week. You know now, and that’s what counts.”

JJ smiled at him for a second before speaking again. “I’m, um, sorry about your dad.”

“It’s fine,” Leo said. “I only really knew him for a few years, and I still have Mom. And she’s the best family in the whole world.” He watched as JJ kept looking at the drum. “You can pull out my sticks from my stick bag if you wanna play something.”

“Really?”

“Of course. It’s not like you’re gonna break something.”

JJ smirked. “You don’t think I’m strong enough to break it? Challenge accepted—hey, I’m just kidding!”

Leo sighed and walked over to JJ as he grabbed some sticks from Leo’s bag. He gripped them and started forcefully tapping at the drum.

“Oh my gosh, please stop,” Leo said, putting a hand to his head. “You’re completely killing the sound with that death grip.” JJ looked at him, quizzically. “You need to relax your grip,” Leo said as he took JJ’s hand in his and adjusted JJ’s fingers so that he was holding the stick with his thumb, index finger, and middle finger. “There. Do the same thing with you other hand…Perfect, that’s called matched grip. Now you’ll be able to move the sticks more freely and get a better tone.”

JJ started playing again, and Leo breathed a sigh of relief at how much less awful it was. “You’re right, that is a lot better!” JJ yelled over the drum.

Leo laughed. “Told you,” he yelled.

JJ got bored after another minute and stopped playing. He asked if Leo would play something for him.

“Sure,” Leo said as he went over to his bookshelf and pulled out a sheet of music. “This was the audition piece for this year.” He set the music on the stand. JJ sat down and waited intently.

Leo took a breath, closed his eyes for a moment, and began playing. He felt the room come to life. The vibrations from the drum travelled up the sticks, into his fingers, and throughout his body. He listened as the sound hit the walls of the basement and reverberated in the air. His mind became empty as he let the music envelop him.

Before he knew it, he was at the end of the etude. He held his sticks above the drum until the last echoes had dissipated, then he relaxed his arms and turned to look at JJ.

JJ’s mouth was slightly open and his eyes were wide. Gradually, his face broke into a huge grin. “Woah,” he exhaled. “You were—that was—dude, you’ve been holding out on me. That was amazing!”

“Thanks,” Leo said as he put away his sticks and walked back to the table. “Even though I love playing with the whole band, there’s something really special about performing something by myself.”

“I loved it! If you wanna perform by yourself any more, I would absolutely be your audience.”

Leo smiled and laughed timidly. “Maybe later. We really shouldn’t keep putting off this studying.”

JJ’s face fell and he began pouting in the general direction of his backpack. “A king shouldn’t have to waste his time on such trivial things.”

“Maybe he wouldn’t have to if he had actually read the book when he was supposed to.”

JJ gave him the middle finger, and Leo burst out laughing. At this rate, if they managed to get even thirty minutes of studying in, Leo would be satisfied.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was doing so well at updating this consistently, but then it took me two weeks to update this chapter :( Whoops. I really want to finish this story, and I’m gonna try to update more often!

“Dinner’s ready, boys!” Leo’s mom called from the top of the basement stairs.

“Coming!” Leo answered. As it turned out, neither of them had really needed to do too much studying. Leo vaguely recalled JJ mentioning something about acing most of his classes, and he could see why. JJ’s memory was amazing. Once JJ finally sat still long enough to read the book, he memorized the material quickly. After an hour and a half of somewhat-quietly working on their own, they made flashcards and quizzed each other. Once they had each gotten a perfect score twice in a row, they decided they had earned a break and played video games until dinner. It’s not like the test was tomorrow; they could study more later.

After Leo’s mom called, they shut down the video game to head upstairs, wash up, and sit down for dinner.

“Thanks for making dinner, Mom,” said Leo.

“Yeah, this looks delicious,” added JJ. “Thank you so much!”

She smiled. “You’re welcome, boys.”

The three of them sat down to enjoy their meal. After a few bites, Leo’s mom spoke up. “So, JJ, Leo told me you just moved here from Canada. Have you enjoyed your time in the States so far?”

JJ nodded as he finished swallowing a bite of food. “Yes, it’s been great here! We have a great house here, and it’s way bigger than our old house. And school is going well too. It’s so much better than my school in Canada.”

“Really?” Leo blurted out before he could stop himself. He was treated horribly here, how could his past school possibly have been any worse?

JJ looked down at his plate for a second before giving a big smile. “Yeah! Especially since I have my awesome new friend there with me.”

Leo dramatically clutched his hands to his heart and let out a big “awwww,” and JJ just laughed.

“Well,” Leo’s mom said, “it’s nice to see Leo talking to someone else for a change. He usually hangs out with Phichit and Guang Hong all the time. They’re wonderful young men of course, but the three of them just spend all their time on social media.”

“Ugh, I don’t _only_ talk to Phichit and Guang Hong, mom. And we do other stuff, too—Oh yeah, JJ, if you’re up for it, the two of us need to hang out with Phichit and Guang Hong sometime since you guys haven’t actually met each other yet.”

JJ’s eyes widened, then he smiled. “They can’t wait to meet the king, huh?”

“Of course,” Leo laughed.

They kept talking as they ate, and Leo was glad to see his mom getting along well with JJ. She might have even liked him more than Phichit and Guang Hong. After dinner, Leo and JJ “studied” for another hour before JJ decided to head home.

“Thanks for coming over,” Leo said as they walked to the front door.

“No, thank _you_ for inviting me. We’re gonna kick this quiz’s butt!”

“Yeah we are!” Leo raised his hand for a high five, and JJ returned the gesture—then pulled Leo in for a hug.

Leo was caught off guard. As soon as Leo had lifted his arms to hug back, JJ had let go and was heading out the door. “I’ll see you Monday!” called JJ as he waved.

Leo stood there smiling for a few seconds before he remembered to close the door. He went back to the basement to pack up his schoolwork. Once he had cleaned up everything, he decided to practice for band for a little while.

He had only practiced for about twenty minutes when his mom came downstairs with a concerned look on her face. “Leo, can I talk to you for a few minutes?”

“Can it wait until I’m done practicing?”

“I think we should talk now.” She motioned for him to join her at the table.

“What’s wrong?” he asked as he sat down.

“I just got a phone call from JJ’s mom.”

Leo’s eyes widened. “Is he okay?”

“Yes, he’s fine—er, nothing bad just happened. She just called to tell me how grateful she is for you and she wanted me to tell you ‘thank you.’”

“…For what?”

She sighed. “I’m not sure if you knew this, and this is something you need to keep between us, but JJ doesn’t really have any other friends.”

“Well, he’s only been here for a week. He hasn’t had much time—”

“Honey, not just here. In Canada, too.”

“…Oh.”

They both sat in silence for a moment before she continued. “You mentioned to me that he’s very self-confident, and I could see that at dinner tonight. I guess he’s been showing this in a very over-the-top way at school for years, and it just drove most people away from him. At his last school he was bullied a lot, and it really took a toll on him. His self-esteem has dropped a lot, and his mom is guessing that his increasingly loud and obnoxious behavior in school is sort of a coping mechanism.”

“But…he really doesn’t even have _one_ other friend?”

“There were still many students at his old school that didn’t participate in the bullying and would make small talk with him at school, but for a few years now there hasn’t been anyone who’s wanted to hang out with him outside of school.”

Leo clenched his fists on the table. “Why are people such _assholes_?”

“Leo, _language_.” She sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know. Their family was originally planning on moving to the United States in a year so that JJ wouldn’t have to switch schools before his senior year and because his next youngest sister would just be starting high school that same year. But apparently something really bad happened over the summer, and they decided it was too toxic to stay there for another year and they found a house in the U.S. as fast as they could.”

“What happened?”

“She didn’t say, and I didn’t ask. It’s not my place to know. What’s important is that school has been going a lot better for him now, and his mom believes that it’s in large part thanks to you.”

Leo tried to wrap his head around all this information. “JJ said that too, tonight—that school is a lot better here…How can this be better?”

Him mom looked at him in confusion. “He’s already made a new friend, he doesn’t have to deal with the bullying, that—”

“What do you mean he doesn’t have to deal with bullying? He’s bullied like crazy here.”

His mom widened her eyes in shock. “His mom didn’t seem to know that. She said that JJ hasn’t mentioned being bullied at all. He mostly just talks about you.”

“He does?” His mom nodded. “Oh…B-but the bullying is definitely still there. There was a video that was spreading around earlier this week, and it was really bad. I even caught Phichit and Guang Hong sending it out.”

“They did _what_?”

“I got them to stop! And they do legitimately want to hang out with JJ sometime. They’re not jerks. But the rest of the school….”

Leo’s mom shook her head. “That’s despicable. I may need to file a complaint to the school….My point is, JJ’s been through a lot, and you’ve become very important to him over the past week. Everything I just told you is very private, and I debated whether or not I should tell you, but I decided it was important for you to know. _Not_ because I want you to pity him—that’s the worst thing you could do—but because his support system right now is only his family and you. If you see he’s going through a hard time with something, make sure you’re there for him—especially since he doesn’t seem to be telling his family about the bullying.” She placed her hand on top of Leo’s. “You’ve grown into a wonderful young man, Leo, and I couldn’t be more proud of you. You’re an excellent friend.”

“Thanks, mom.”

She stood up to give him a hug. “Try not to think too much about this, just keep being a good friend.” She let go and went back up to the first floor.

Leo didn’t feel much like practicing anymore. He couldn’t believe how long JJ had been putting up with jerks at school. Why couldn’t anyone else see how great he was?

His mom was right. Leo was going to keep being the best darn friend he could be.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp…in the last chapter I promised to update consistently, and here we are, 4 months later. My bad. I legitimately do want to finish this story though, even though the Ship Bingo event I was writing it for is long over. I hate leaving stuff unfinished, and I’ve enjoyed writing this, so it will definitely get done eventually! But I won’t make any more promises I can’t keep about the update schedule. Anyways, here’s the very-delayed sixth chapter!

“So, how’d it go?” JJ asked Leo once the bell finally rang at the end of Chemistry.

Leo blinked his eyes a few times to finish waking up. Their quiz had been at the beginning of class, so he had no reason to stay alert during the second half of the period. “Super easy, as usual.”

“Me too! We should study together more often. We’ll stay at the top of the class for sure.”

Leo smiled. “Yeah. Especially if our studying involves more video games.”

“Oh yeah, it definitely will.”

They continued talking until they parted ways for their last period classes. Leo slid into is usual seat in the back and pulled out his phone. He had a few messages from his group chat with Phichit and Guang Hong.

 **Guang Hong:** guys

 **Guang Hong:** guYS

 **Guang Hong:** Shanghai Blade comes out tomorrow

 **Phichit:** Wtf is shanghai blade

 **Guang Hong:** EXCUSE ME??? YOU DON’T KNOW?

 **Phichit:** Geez relax, of course I know, you’ve only been talking about this movie EVERY DAY for the past month

 **Guang Hong:** …

 **Guang Hong:** So are we going or what?

 **Phichit:** Uhhh, yes!

 **Guang Hong:** Leo?

 **Phichit:** Leeeeeeeeeoooooo

 **Leo:** Sorry. Was falling asleep in class again

 **Leo:** Yeah I’m in!

 **Guang Hong:** Yessssss

 **Leo:** Oh, hey, can I invite jj?

 **Phichit:** Fine with me

 **Guang Hong:** Sure. Gotta get as many people to appreciate this masterpiece as possible!

 **Phichit:** Dude you haven’t even seen it yet. It could be trash

Leo rushed to put his phone away before Guang Hong went on an angry tirade against Phichit. There’s no way he’d be able to read it without bursting into laughter in the middle of class, which was just about to start. At least he knew he’d have plenty of messages to keep him entertained once class was over.

* * *

 

Leo scrolled through the messages in the group chat, barely reading them. The day of the movie had arrived, and Guang Hong couldn’t contain his excitement; he had been continuously blowing up the group chat since the previous day. Leo and Phichit hadn’t responded for a couple of hours, but Guang Hong didn’t seem to care (or notice). They had decided on the 8:00 showing—the earliest one they could get. Leo was going to pick them up at 7:30—along with JJ, who had readily agreed when Leo asked if he wanted to come. 

Once Leo and his mom finished cleaning up dinner, he grabbed his keys and headed out. He picked up Phichit and Guang Hong first, then entered JJ’s address into his phone. He lived only a few minutes away.

When they pulled up outside of JJ’s house, Leo saw Phichit’s jaw drop in the mirror. “Damn, is his family rich?”

“He has ten siblings, they need lots of space,” Leo said as he texted JJ to let him know they were outside.

“Ten? Ugh, I’m not jealous of him,” said Guang Hong as JJ stepped outside and ran to the car.

“Never fear, the King has arrived!” JJ announced as he joined Phichit in the back seat.

Leo held his breath, remembering how Phichit and Guang Hong had laughed at the video of JJ that had been spreading around. _They better not say something mean._

Guang Hong was the first to speak up. “Glad you could make it, Mr. King. Sorry the royal carriage sucks.”

“Hey! What’s wrong with my car?” Leo asked.

JJ just laughed. “The carriage looks great to me,” he said, giving Leo a thumbs-up.

“I’m glad it’s up to your standards,” Leo said. “Oh yeah—JJ, this is Guang Hong and Phichit,” he said, pointing to each of them.

“Nice to meet you!” said JJ.

“You too,” said Guang Hong, turning around to smile at JJ.

“I know I’ll probably regret asking this, but are you excited for the movie?” Phichit said to JJ.

“Well, I haven’t heard too much about it, but the trailer looks good. Why would you regret asking—”

“It looked _good_? Just _good_?” Guang Hong started.

“Oh god.” Phichit put his head in his hands.

“Anyone up for some music?” asked Leo, turning the radio way up. This might be a _long_ car ride.

* * *

 

They arrived at the theater, bought a couple bags of popcorn, and found their seats. Guang Hong could barely sit still.

JJ leaned over to whisper to Leo. “He sure is excited, huh?”

Leo quietly laughed. “Yep. It reminds me of another easily-excited friend of mine.”

“Who?” JJ asked. Leo just looked at him until JJ’s eyes widened in realization. “ _Oh_.”

Leo laughed and shook his head, grabbing some popcorn from the bag in JJ’s lap as the movie finally started. 

Leo had to hand it Guang Hong: the movie was turning out to be very good. The movie had just reached a quiet scene that would inevitably end in a surprise battle, so Leo took the moment of peace as an opportunity to grab more popcorn. JJ must have had the same idea; their hands bumped against each other, and JJ gasped and jumped slightly.

Leo suppressed a laugh. “You okay there?”

“Ha, um, yeah, I’m good,” JJ replied a little too loudly, earning a glare from the group sitting next to them.

Leo leaned in to talk more quietly. “How do you like it so far?”

“Not bad. It’s very intense.”

“Well, it _is_ an action movie.”

JJ smiled. “Yeah. Personally I prefer romances, but this is a nice change of pace.”

Leo felt a finger jabbing into his other side, and turned to see Guang Hong holding a finger to his lips, then pointing at the screen. Leo sighed and quieted down as the action started up again.

Before they knew it the movie was over, and Guang Hong started squealing again as the credits rolled. “That. Was. Amazing! Oh my gosh did you see the part when—”

“Yes. Yes we did,” sighed Phichit. “We were watching the same movie, we saw the same things you did.”

“But—but,” Guang Hong sputtered as Phichit ruffled his hair and laughed.

“Well, I enjoyed it,” Leo said. “Good choice, Guang Hong. And if Phichit would stop messing with you for a few seconds I’m sure he’d say the same.”

They grabbed their trash and stood up to leave the theater. Leo and Guang Hong stopped to use the restroom while Phichit and JJ waited outside. When Leo and Guang Hong rejoined them, Leo asked, “Ready to go? The night’s still young. We could all go back to my place to play some video games.”

Phichit and Guang Hong responded enthusiastically, but JJ stayed quiet. “JJ?”

JJ looked at Leo for a moment, then looked down at the ground. “I’ll just go home.”

“Oh.” Leo wasn’t expecting that. “Is everything okay—”  

“I’m fine,” JJ said coldly, curling and uncurling his fingers.

The other three looked at each other, confused. Leo gently put his hand on JJ’s shoulder. “Okay, we can call it a night.”

“Alright,” JJ said as he shrugged off Leo’s hand and started walking to the car.

The ride to JJ’s house was painfully quiet. They all wished him good night as he got out, but he didn’t respond. As Leo started pulling out of the driveway, he turned to Phichit. “Did something happen while we were in the bathroom?”

Phichit sighed. “I honestly don’t know. JJ and I were just talking, then all of a sudden he got all sad and quiet, and I don’t know why.”

“What were you talking about?” Guang Hong asked.

“Leo, mostly. He was saying how happy he was to be your friend, then I made a joke, and he got weird.”

“What was the joke?” Leo asked.

“I said that it was a good thing you felt bad enough for him to let him become your friend.”

Leo slammed the brakes a bit too hard at the stop sign. “You said _what_?”

“Relax, it was a joke!”

“You told him I only became friends with him because I felt bad for him?”

“Well, I never said it was a good joke…but surely he knew I was joking. I was laughing.”

Leo couldn’t believe this. Why would Phichit think it was okay to say something like that? JJ was already treated horribly at school, and now Phichit got him thinking that his friend—his _only_ friend—was only spending time with him because he felt bad for him.

“That’s not very funny,” Guang Hong muttered.

“Well, it’s kinda true, isn’t it?” Phichit asked.

“No! No, it’s not true,” said Leo. Right? He thought back to the day he met JJ. Sure, he didn’t like JJ at first, but JJ’s persistence won him over in the end. It wasn’t because he felt bad…but Leo wasn’t really planning on talking to JJ again until he heard the other students in Chemistry trash-talking him. He only talked to JJ that time because he didn’t want him to overhear what they were saying.

“Red light!” Guang Hong squeaked, grabbing onto the door handle. Leo slammed on the brakes again. He probably shouldn’t be thinking about this while driving. But what if Phichit was right? What if his friendship with JJ only started out of pity? Leo remembered what his mom had told him a few nights ago, that pitying JJ was the worst thing he could do. Leo shook his head. _No_ , that’s not what this friendship was. Leo liked JJ because he was confident, witty, optimistic, thoughtful…the list could go on. But would Leo have noticed any of that if he hadn’t felt bad for him in the first place?

Leo stayed quiet as he dropped off Phichit and Guang Hong, only half-hearing Phichit’s apology, then he drove home alone, trying not to get too caught up in his thoughts. He wanted to talk to JJ and tell him how wrong Phichit was, but now he was questioning what the truth even was. He avoided his mom as he headed upstairs to his room, not wanting to explain how he might have screwed everything up already. He had a lot of thinking to do.


End file.
